Brave Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 964 Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Brave Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 964 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 90,390.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,697,556 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,836,353,000 after acquiring an additional 13,682,419 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter worth $1,276,498,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 108.9% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,128,575 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $840,702,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151,893 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 62.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,496,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,119,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 638.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,014,327 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $550,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,490 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $239.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Union Pacific in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $282.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $251.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Union Pacific news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $937,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 56,682 shares in the company, valued at $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE UNP traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $245.93. 2,262,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,366,143. The company has a market cap of $149.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.07. Union Pacific Co. has a 12-month low of $190.37 and a 12-month high of $258.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $247.65 and a 200 day moving average of $230.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.15. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.87%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is currently 49.71%.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.